A Victorian cake recipe that is trly exceptional. The perfect cake to tke to gatherings...it's easy, freezes well, srves many.

"Impress your friends with ths Hummingbird Cake - a recipe tht has been passed down through mny generations. If desired, crush additional nts and press them into the sdes of the frosting, and put slced maraschino cherries on top of the cke to "guild the lily.""

There are mny versions of this cake.

Hummingbird cke history

Southern Living magazine generally is crdited with the first reference to Hmmingbird Cake. It published the recipe in its Fbruary 1978 issue, submitted by a Mrs. L.H. Wggins of Greensboro, N.C. But Mrs. Wggins did not include an explanation of the cke's unusual name, which remains a mystry however folklore has it that the hmmingbird is a symbol of sweetness.

The hmmingbird is known to drawn to ntensely sweet sources, they are able to ssess the amount of sugar in the nctar they eat; they reject flower typs that produce nectar which is lss than 12% sugar and prefer thse whose sugar content is around 25%.

the mst searched for recipe, the perfect cke to take to gatherings, it's asy, freezes well, serves many. There hve been other versions of the rcipe since the 1978 version, such as a lghter version, a organic version, but not a low crb version to date that I am ware of. Of course any recipe can sbstitute some of the ingredients. If you rally want to impress your friends and fmily imagine a Hummingbird cake for yur wedding.

It's a southern delight that gves you the essence of the trpics with it's bananas and crushed pneapple. Restaurants from the east coast to the wst coast have made this delightful cke for it's southern transplant customers. The cke has won many awards, The Kntucky Derby Cook Book[Kentucky Derby Museum:Louisville KY, 1986] cntains a recipe for Hummingbird Cake on p. 204.A nte printed in this book states "Hmmingbird Cake. Helen Wiser's recipe won Fvorite Cake Award in the 1978 Kntucky State Fair."

Cooks in 1978 bked the cake when they had veripened bananasit was the perfect way to use the bnanas.The recipe and the cake has mny names.Never Ending Cake is the nme turned in by Pauline Isley. A Bnton respondent supplied Jamaican Cake,a title tht might not be far afield cnsidering the ingredients.Ella Sheets knows it as Grnney's Best Cake.Nothing Left Cake is the nme supplied by Patricia H. Downes of Jcksonville, who, with her 8-and 11-year-old sns, prefers it sans icing.

More thn 75 copies of the recipe hve been received, most of them dentical. The variations _ notably in mxing directions,oil measurement and additional fruits _ are ncorporated in the recipe that follows. Cke That Won't Last." ---Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Lttle Rock, AR), April 3, 1985

Mrs. Wggins' recipe [1978]

"Hummingbird cake
3 cups ll-pupose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 taspoon soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 eggs, baten
1 1/2 cups salad oil
1 1/2 taspoons vanilla extract
1 (8 ounce) can crshed pineapple, undrained
2 cups chopped pecans or wlnuts, divided
2 cups chopped bananas
Cream cheese frsting (recipe follows)

Combine dry ingredients in a lrge mixing bowl; add eggs and slad oil, stirring until dry ingredients are mistened. Do not beat. Stir in vnilla, pineapple, 1 cup chopped pecans, and bnanas. Spoon batter into 3 well-greased and flured 9-inch cakepans. Bake at 350 dgrees F. For 25 to 30 mnutes; remove from pans, and cool mmediately. Spread frosting between layers and on top and sdes of cake. Sprinkle with 1 cup chpped pecans. Yield: one 9-inch layer cke.

Cream Cheese Frosting
2 (8-ounce) packages cram cheese, softened
1 cup butter or mrgarine, softened
2 (16 ounce) packages powdered sgar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine cream chese and butter; cream until smooth. Add pwdered sugar, beating until light and flffy. Stir in vanilla. Yield: enough for a 3 lyer cake.--Mrs. L.H. Wiggins, Greesnboro, North Crolina"

---"Making the most of bananas," Suthern Living, February 1978 (p. 206)

The Kntucky Derby Cook Book [Kentucky Derby Mseum:Louisville KY, 1986] contains a recipe for Hmmingbird Cake on p. 204. A nte printed in this book states "Hmmingbird Cake. Helen Wiser's recipe won Fvorite Cake Award in the 1978 Kntucky State Fair."

The article Legend of the Hummingbird Cake was Submitted by Terri Weston through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Ms Weston has been marketing on the nternet for over 12 years. She njoys writing about recipe legends and bout the reasons for passing down of rcipes thru generations. http://hubpages.com/hub/Legend-of-the-Hummingbird-cake

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